It didn't take a lot of explaining from Detroit Lions coach Jim Schwartz.

In fact, he said all that needs to be said about the Lions anemic run game in just a few words.

Detroit Free Press, Nov. 30: "It's one thing when teams are stacking the box and they're outnumbering you in the run front," Schwartz said. "We ran the ball 20 times. I think 16 of those were into good looks, so to speak, where you're not running into a stone wall and saying, 'We don't have a chance.'"

Intentionally or not, that statement is quite an indictment of the players involved. If you can't run on defenses that aren't really trying to stop you anyway ... well, that's not such a good sign.

And the numbers show just how ugly it is.

The Lions are 25th among 32 NFL teams with 1,058 rushing yards. Of the seven teams with fewer yards on the ground, five make the league's top 10 list of passing teams.

Schwartz came as close as he can to saying what everyone knows: the Lions are simply bereft of enough talent to win more than a handful – and we're talking some small hands – of games.

"We're not where we want to be running the ball," Schwartz said. "There's a lot of different reasons for that. We need to do better with it. Saying you're going to do it doesn't matter. Practicing doesn't matter. It's all on Sunday. ... We're not getting it done there. We need to do better."

Since he was hired as the Lions' coach, Schwartz has maintained that his goal is to make the team more physical on the ground. Some might say that's not necessary, though.

There's an argument that Detroit could fix its run game the same way Arizona, Indianapolis or San Diego has. That is, build up its passing game to such a level that defenses have to focus on stopping it.

You could argue that defenses are already paying attention to the passing game, as it stands. But they're not. Calvin Johnson is the only player who keeps opposing defensive coordinators up at night.

If the Lions could build a true aerial attack, defenses couldn't just roll coverage over to Johnson's side. Until other receiving threats step up – and more importantly, step up consistently – nothing is going to change.

Whichever way Schwartz and general manager Martin Mayhew choose to go, the Lions are going to need to address their offensive struggles during the offseason.